Portal:Television

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Television Portal

Flat-screen television receivers on display for sale at a consumer electronics store in 2008

Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment, news, and sports. The medium is capable of more than "radio broadcasting," which refers to an audio signal sent to radio receivers.

Television became available in crude experimental forms in the 1920s, but only after several years of further development was the new technology marketed to consumers. After World War II, an improved form of black-and-white television broadcasting became popular in the United Kingdom and the United States, and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions. During the 1950s, television was the primary medium for influencing public opinion. In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting was introduced in the U.S. and most other developed countries.

In 2013, 79% of the world's households owned a television set. The replacement of earlier cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen displays with compact, energy-efficient, flat-panel alternative technologies such as LCDs (both fluorescent-backlit and LED), OLED displays, and plasma displays was a hardware revolution that began with computer monitors in the late 1990s. Most television sets sold in the 2000s were still CRT, it was only in early 2010s that flat-screen TVs decisively overtook CRT. Major manufacturers announced the discontinuation of CRT, Digital Light Processing (DLP), plasma, and even fluorescent-backlit LCDs by the mid-2010s. LEDs are being gradually replaced by OLEDs. Also, major manufacturers have started increasingly producing smart TVs in the mid-2010s. Smart TVs with integrated Internet and Web 2.0 functions became the dominant form of television by the late 2010s.^{[better source needed]} (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

"Interactions" is the second episode of the animated television series The Spectacular Spider-Man, which is based on the comic book character Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The episode sees Spider-Man confronting the supervillain Electro, whose body was corrupted with electricity after a freak lab accident. "Interactions" was written by Kevin Hopps, who researched all the available comic books he had that featured Electro, and directed by Troy Adomitis. Electro's appearance in the episode draws on his traditional comic book style, though designer Victor Cook emphasized the color green and removed the character's customary star-shaped mask. His voice actor, Crispin Freeman, sought to reflect the character's declining sanity in his vocal style. "Interactions" first aired March 8, 2008, on the Kids WB! block for The CW network, following the first episode. Its 1.4/4 Nielsen rating was higher than that of the pilot, "Survival of the Fittest". The episode received mixed reviews, with IGN commenting that "[w]hile not as strong as the pilot, the episode had some notable moments."

More selected articles

Read more

Selected image - show another

Credit: Nobody of Consequence

Phonevision, also known as station KS2XBS, was an experimental television station in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by Zenith. It was the world's first pay television station. Zenith originally occupied the VHF Channel 2 frequencies since 1939, using this as an experimental station while they tried to perfect "PhoneVision".

More selected pictures

Read more

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that Angelle's debut single was promoted with an entire television channel – and still only reached number 43 on the UK Singles Chart?
... that in 1982, a news anchor for Phoenix television station KOOL-TV was held hostage on set for five hours?
... that pastry chef and television judge Benoit Blin cut off the tips of his fingers in a kitchen accident during his service in the French Navy?
... that Filipina actress Angel Aquino has been described as a "perennial villainess" for portraying several antagonistic roles on television?
... that Paul Dini was a writer for both the animated television series Batman: The Animated Series and the video game series Batman: Arkham?
... that CBS News and Stations president Wendy McMahon helped bring local evening news back to the network's Detroit station after 20 years?

Selected quote - show another

Imagine what it would be like if TV actually were good. It would be the end of everything we know.

— Marvin Minsky

More selected quotes

More at Wikiquote

More did you know

...that The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer, a book that analyzes the The Simpsons using philosophical concepts, is the main textbook in philosophy courses offered at some universities?

...that the 1994 Guinness television advertisement Anticipation used jump cutting techniques to make an actor appear to be performing a physically impossible dance?

...that Black Entertainment Television comedy series We Got to Do Better, had its name changed from Hot Ghetto Mess amidst allegations of enforcing negative stereotypes of African Americans?

..that the time traveling premise featured in the Chrono series of video games was inspired by such television programs as The Time Tunnel?

...that Judy Morris, co-writer of the Academy Award winning Happy Feet has also acted in many of the most popular North American and Australian television programs since the age of 10?

More did you know facts

Selected biography - show another

Rose Catherine Pinkney (born 1964) is an American television development executive. She was hired as the VP Development and Original Programming for TV Land in 2012. Pinkney has previously served as Director of Programming at Twentieth Century Fox Television, senior vice president of comedy development at Paramount Pictures Television and executive vice president of programming and production at TV One. She most recently served as the head of the television arm of Laurence Fishburne's production company, Cinema Gypsy. Among Pinkney's accolades are Network Journal's 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business, Cable World's Top 50 Women in Cable and Black Enterprise's Top 50 Entertainment Executives. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
James T. Aubrey Kroger Babb Rudolph Cartier Sydney Newman Eric Bana Kylie Minogue Peter Jennings KaDee Strickland Austin Nichols Aaron Sorkin Jake Gyllenhaal Dan Rather Brad Pitt Walter Cronkite Tom Brokaw John Le Mesurier George Formby Dan Castellaneta Perry Como Red Skelton

General images

The following are images from various television-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1An RCA Victor Color TV ad featuring milliner Lilly Daché in 1959. (from Color television)
Image 2The Philco Predicta, 1958. In the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (from History of television)
Image 3First television test broadcast transmitted by the NHK Broadcasting Technology Research Institute in May 1939 (from History of television)
Image 4Hovannes Adamian c. 1900s (from Color television)
Image 5Color bars used in a test pattern, sometimes used when no program material is available (from History of television)
Image 6Ferdinand Braun (from History of television)
Image 7RCA 630-TS, the first mass-produced television set, which sold in 1946–1947 (from History of television)
Image 8This live image of actress Paddy Naismith was used to demonstrate Telechrome, John Logie Baird's first all-electronic color television system, which used two projection CRTs. The two-color image would be similar to the basic Telechrome system. (from Color television)
Image 9Smart TVs on display (from Smart TV)
Image 10Samsung's discontinued Orsay platform (from Smart TV)
Image 11Ad for the beginning of experimental television broadcasting in New York City by RCA in 1939 (from History of television)
Image 12The Nipkow disk. This schematic shows the circular paths traced by the holes, which may also be square for greater precision. The area of the disk outlined in black shows the region scanned. (from History of television)
Image 13DBS satellite dishes (from History of television)
Image 14Philo Farnsworth in 1924 (from History of television)
Image 15LG smart TV using the Web browser (from Smart TV)
Image 16An early Smart TV from 2012 running the discontinued Orsay platform (from History of television)
Image 17Manfred von Ardenne in 1933 (from History of television)
Image 18The first mass-produced Czechoslovak TV-set Tesla 4001A (1953–57) (from History of television)
Image 19Baird in 1925 with his televisor equipment and dummies "James" and "Stooky Bill" (right) (from History of television)
Image 20RCA CT-100 at the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention playing Superman. The RCA CT-100 was the first mass-produced color TV set. (from Color television)
Image 21Comparison of image quality between ISDB-T (1080i broadcast, top) and NTSC (480i transmission, bottom) (from Digital television)
Image 22LG Electronics smart TV from 2011 (from Smart TV)
Image 23Family watching TV, 1958 (from History of television)
Image 24A map depicting digital terrestrial television standards (from Digital television)

Featured lists - load new batch

Featured lists have been determined by the Wikipedia community to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.

Image 1

American Horror Story is a horror television series created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. The series is broadcast on the cable television channel FX in the United States. Described as an anthology series, each season is conceived as a self-contained miniseries, following a disparate set of characters and settings, and a storyline with its own "beginning, middle, and end".

Since its debut, American Horror Story has earned mostly positive reviews from critics, and has been nominated for a variety of different awards, including nineteen Critics' Choice Television Awards (four wins), ninety-four Emmy Awards (sixteen wins), nine Golden Globe Awards (two wins), six People's Choice Awards (one win), eleven Satellite Awards (three wins), and twenty-six Saturn Awards. (Full article...)
Image 2
The fifth season of Family Guy first aired on the Fox network in eighteen episodes from September 10, 2006, to May 20, 2007, before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It premiered with the episode "Stewie Loves Lois" and finished with "Meet the Quagmires". The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stewie and Brian, the family pet, who reside in their hometown of Quahog, a fictional city in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The executive producers for the fifth season were David Goodman, Chris Sheridan, Danny Smith and series creator Seth MacFarlane. Sheridan and Goodman served as showrunners for the fifth season.

The season received positive reviews from critics, who praised that the series saw "no sign of tiring", and had "as many funny moments as ever." Some criticism went to the cite of a lack of original writing. (Full article...)
Image 3
Romanek at the 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival

American filmmaker Mark Romanek directed his first music video in 1986, for The The's "Sweet Bird of Truth". He earned his first MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction nomination for "Free Your Mind", performed by En Vogue, in 1993. Romanek later directed "Closer" for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which contains imagery involving terror, sexuality, and animal cruelty. In 1995, he directed the video for "Scream", set in space and performed by Michael and Janet Jackson, as well as the New Age surrealistic "Bedtime Story", performed by Madonna. They are two of the most expensive music videos ever made, costing $7 million and $5 million, respectively. "Scream" gained 11 nominations at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, including Romanek's second Best Direction nomination, and his first Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form.

In 1996, Romanek directed the Mary Poppins-inspired "Novocaine for the Soul" for the rock band Eels. The following year, he directed Fiona Apple's "Criminal", which explores themes of voyeurism and adolescence; and won his second Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Got 'til It's Gone", performed by Janet Jackson, Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell. For his work in "Hurt" (2003), performed by Johnny Cash, Romanek earned another MTV nomination, and won his third Grammy. In 2004, he directed the auto-biographical music video for Jay-Z's "99 Problems", for which he won his first MTV award. Their subsequent collaborations—the installation-style 10-minute short film for "Picasso Baby" (2013), and the animation video for "The Story of O.J." (2017)—were nominated for Grammy Award for Best Music Video. (Full article...)
Image 4
Series title card

The Good Place is an American fantasy-comedy television series created by Michael Schur for NBC. The series focuses on Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a recently deceased young woman who wakes up in the afterlife and is sent by Michael (Ted Danson) to "the Good Place", a heaven-like utopia he designed, in reward for her righteous life. However, she quickly realizes that she was sent there by mistake, and she must hide her imperfect behavior, and try to be a better person. William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and Manny Jacinto co-star as other residents of the Good Place, together with D'Arcy Carden as an artificial being helping the residents. Each episode is listed as "Chapter (xx)" following the opening title sequence.

The series was first announced on August 13, 2015, as a 13-episode untitled comedy based on a pitch by Schur. The first season began airing on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 19, 2017. On January 30, 2017, NBC renewed the series for a second season of 13 episodes, which premiered on September 20, 2017, with an hour-long premiere. The second season concluded on February 1, 2018. On November 21, 2017, NBC renewed the series for a 13-episode third season, which premiered on September 27, 2018, and concluded on January 24, 2019. On December 4, 2018, the series was renewed for a fourth and final season comprising 14 episodes, which premiered on September 26, 2019. The final episode of the series aired on January 30, 2020. During the course of the series, 53 episodes of The Good Place aired over four seasons. (Full article...)
Image 5
Ed, Edd n Eddy is a 69-episode (130-segment) animated comedy television series created by Danny Antonucci and produced by Canada-based a.k.a. Cartoon. The series debuted on Cartoon Network in the United States on January 4, 1999, and ended on November 8, 2009, with the film Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show. The series was originally planned to air for four seasons, but Cartoon Network ordered two additional seasons, four specials, and a film as a result of its popularity, for a total of 135 stories. The series revolves around three adolescent boys collectively known as "the Eds", who live in a suburban cul-de-sac. Unofficially led by Eddy, the Eds frequently try to obtain money from other children in their cul-de-sac in order to purchase jawbreakers. The Eds' plans usually fail and leave them in various predicaments.

Feeling confined to gross and edgy work, such as his previous series The Brothers Grunt, artist Danny Antonucci decided to produce an animated children's television show similar to classic cartoons from the 1940s to the 1970s. Antonucci spent months designing the show and then pitched the series to Nickelodeon, but the network declined to give him creative control, which Antonucci refused. He then pitched the series to Cartoon Network. The network commissioned the show after agreeing to let Antonucci go in his own direction. The first two seasons were released on DVD in 2006 and 2007. Two DVD volumes were also released: Edifying Ed-Ventures on May 10, 2005, in Region 1 and in Region 2 on May 16, 2006, and Fools' Par-Ed-Ise on March 31, 2006, in Region 1. Selected episodes were featured in Cartoon Network compilation DVDs. The first five seasons, in addition to the Big Picture Show film are available for download on the iTunes Store. The Halloween special "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Boo Haw Haw" is available as part of "Cartoon Network's Super Scary Showcase" on the iTunes Store, but only to the UK. The complete first and second season DVDs can be rented from Netflix, while all the seasons can be currently streamed on Max. The third season can be downloaded from the Google Play store and Amazon.com. (Full article...)
Image 6
Regular Show is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network that aired from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017. The series revolves around the daily lives of two 23-year-old friends, Mordecai (a blue jay), and Rigby (a raccoon). They work as groundskeepers at a park, and spend their days trying to slack off and entertain themselves by any means. This is much to the chagrin of their boss Benson (a gumball machine) and their coworker Skips (a yeti), but to the delight of park owner Mr. Maellard's son Pops (a man with a lollipop-shaped head). Their other coworkers, Muscle Man (an overweight green man) and Hi-Five Ghost (a ghost with a hand extending from the top of his head) serve as their rivals.

Quintel initially worked as a writer and staff director for the Cartoon Network series Camp Lazlo and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack before he was offered to produce a short for the network's showcase project The Cartoonstitute. Quintel developed the Regular Show pilot for the project, utilizing characters from his California Institute of the Arts student films The Naïve Man from Lolliland (2005) and 2 in the AM PM (2006). While The Cartoonstitute was ultimately scrapped, Cartoon Network executives approved the production of Regular Show, starting with its first season. Its first two seasons were rating successes, with Nielsen Media Research ranking the series at number one in its time period amongst its primary demographic. As of May 2013, the program averages approximately 2 to 2.5 million viewers each week. (Full article...)
Image 7

30 Rockefeller Plaza, the titular setting of 30 Rock

30 Rock is an American satirical situation comedy that premiered on NBC on October 11, 2006. Created by Tina Fey, the television series has won and been nominated for a variety of different awards during its seven season run. It received 103 Emmy Awards nominations, with 10 Emmy Award nominations for its first season alone, and a further 17 Emmy Award nominations in its second season. The show won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for its first three seasons and was nominated every year it was eligible.

Lead actress Tina Fey has been nominated for awards 27 times for her role as Liz Lemon, the head writer of the fictional television show TGS with Tracy Jordan. Fey has also been nominated eight times for her writing skills. Lead actor Alec Baldwin has been nominated 27 times for his portrayal of NBC television executive Jack Donaghy. Through its run, 30 Rock was nominated for 266 different awards, winning 66. A webisode series called Kenneth the Web Page has been nominated for one award. In this list, "year" refers to the year the award was presented to the winner. (Full article...)
Image 8
Moonlighting is an American comedy-drama television show created in 1985 by writer Glenn Gordon Caron. It centers on Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd), a former model who loses most of her financial assets due to her accountant's embezzlement but unexpectedly finds that she owns a detective agency. She teams up with cocky, chauvinistic investigator David Addison (Bruce Willis) to run the agency and becomes embroiled in various unusual cases. The show's other regular characters are Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley), the agency's receptionist, and Herbert Viola (Curtis Armstrong), one of the agency's investigators, who was introduced in the third season and became a featured character in the fourth season. The show mixes drama, comedy and romance, and often incorporates fantasy sequences or breaks the fourth wall.

The series premiered on ABC in the United States with a feature-length pilot episode on March 3, 1985. The series lasted 5 seasons, but only 66 episodes were produced, a low figure for American television, for which a full season normally includes at least 22 episodes. The show became notorious for failing to have a new episode ready to air each week, due to on-set problems including script issues and friction between actors and producers. Most episodes aired on Tuesday nights, although when the show returned in April 1989 after a two-month hiatus, the remaining episodes aired on Sunday nights. (Full article...)
Image 9
The first season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered on HBO on April 17, 2011, in the U.S. and concluded on June 19, 2011. It consists of ten episodes, each of approximately 55 minutes. The series is based on A Game of Thrones, the first novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, adapted for television by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. HBO had ordered a television pilot in November 2008; filming began the following year. However, it did not receive a season order and was later reworked with some roles recast. In March 2010, HBO ordered the first season, which began filming in July 2010, primarily in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with additional filming in Malta.

The story takes place in a fantasy world, primarily upon the continent Westeros, with one storyline occurring on another continent to the east, Essos. Like the novel, the season initially focuses on the family of nobleman Eddard "Ned" Stark, the Warden of the North, who is asked to become the King's Hand (chief advisor) to his longtime friend, King Robert Baratheon. Ned seeks to find out who murdered his predecessor, Jon Arryn. He uncovers dark secrets about the powerful Lannister family, which includes Robert's queen, Cersei, that his predecessor died trying to expose. This leads, after Robert's death, to Ned's arrest for treason. Ned's eldest son, Robb, begins a rebellion against the Lannisters. Ned is killed at the order of Cersei's tyrannical teenage son, King Joffrey Baratheon. Meanwhile, in Essos, the exiled Viserys Targaryen, son of the former king, forces his sister Daenerys to marry a Dothraki warlord in exchange for an army to pursue his claim to the Iron Throne. The season ends with Viserys dead and Daenerys becoming the Mother of Dragons. (Full article...)
Image 10
The fifth season of the One Piece anime series was directed by Kōnosuke Uda and produced by Toei Animation. Like the rest of the series, it follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates, but instead of adaptating part of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga, it features three completely original, self-contained story arcs. The first five episodes, each following their own plots, form the "Dreams!" (ドリームス!) arc. The next three episodes make up the "Shutsugeki! Zenii Kaizoku Dan" (出撃! ゼニィ海賊団, lit. "Sortie! Zenny Pirates") storyline and focus on the Straw Hats meeting an old moneylender. The last five episodes form the "Niji no Kanata e" (虹の彼方へ, lit. "To the Other Side of the Rainbow") arc and deal with the protagonists getting trapped inside a mysterious, rainbow-colored mist.

The season initially ran from November 3, 2002, through February 2, 2003, on Fuji Television in Japan and was released on DVD in five compilations, each containing one disc with two or three episodes, by Avex Mode between March 3 and July 7, 2004. The season was then licensed for a heavily edited dubbed broadcast in English by 4Kids Entertainment. Their adaptation ran from August 4, 2007, through September 22, 2007, on Cartoon Network and omitted seven of the season's thirteen episodes. It was the last season to be dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment. Starting with the sixth season, Funimation took over dubbing new episodes for broadcast on Cartoon Network. Eventually, they began redubbing the series from the start for uncut release on DVD and released the fifth season, relabeled as "One Piece: Season Two – Seventh Voyage", on May 11, 2010. (Full article...)
Image 11
The third season of Seinfeld, an American television series created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, began airing on September 18, 1991, on NBC, a U.S. broadcast television network. It comprises 23 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 6, 1992. "The Tape", "The Pen", and "The Letter" are some of the season's episodes that were inspired by the writers' own experiences. Co-creator Larry David admits that season three was a big turning point for the series in terms of how the show was made; it's where the writers started doing nonlinear story lines with episodes containing multiple stories. George was becoming a bigger liar, Elaine was becoming more quirky, and Kramer was becoming surer of himself throughout his crazy antics. This season received eight Emmy nominations and one Directors Guild of America Award.

The DVD boxset for season three was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in Region 1 on November 23, 2004, twelve years after it had completed broadcast on television. It was also released in Region 2 on November 1, 2004, and on October 18, 2004, in Region 4. As well as every episode from the season (minus "The Stranded" which was produced for the second season), the DVD release features bonus material including deleted scenes, exclusive stand-up material, and commentaries. (Full article...)
Image 12
The Golden Martín Fierro Award is presented annually by the Asociación de Periodistas de la Televisión y Radiofonía Argentina (APTRA) (Spanish: Association of journalists of Argentine television and radio). It is given to honor an Argentine individual with an outstanding career in the media of Argentina or a recent production of outstanding quality. APTRA described the standard as "the best among the best". It was first awarded in 1992 at the Martín Fierro Awards ceremony for works from 1991. It is a special award, unrelated to the regular ones, which are distributed in categories. A second award, the Platinum Martín Fierro Award, is selected by public poll among the previous recipients of the Golden award. This second award was created in 2009 for works from 2008, but there was no Platinum award for the 2013 ceremony. The awards for the cable television were split to their own ceremony, with its own Golden Martín Fierro in 2015.

The talk show Fax was the first recipient of the award, and, as of 2018, 100 días para enamorarse is the most recent. No recipient has received the award twice, but Nicolás Repetto, host of Fax, received a personal one in 2000. Facundo Arana, Julio Chávez, Mercedes Morán, Celeste Cid, Carla Peterson, Nancy Dupláa, Pablo Echarri, Diego Peretti and Gabriela Toscano have been lead actors of different works of fiction that received the award. (Full article...)
Image 13
The anime series Buso Renkin is based on the manga series of the same name written by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The series is directed by Takao Kato and produced by Xebec. The episodes follow Kazuki Muto who becomes an Alchemic warrior in the battle against Alchemic monsters known as Homunculi.

The production of the Buso Renkin anime was announced by the release of a minute-long internet trailer. Buso Renkin aired between October 5, 2006, and March 29, 2007, on TV Tokyo. The episodes were later released in nine DVD compilations between January 25, 2007, and September 21, 2007, by Geneon Universal Entertainment. A DVD box set containing the whole series was released on November 26, 2009. (Full article...)
Image 14
Chris Carter created The X-Files, which premiered on September 10, 1993.

The X-Files is an American science fiction–supernatural television series that originally aired on the Fox network for 9 seasons from September 10, 1993, to May 19, 2002. The series centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder, an FBI profiler, is a believer in the paranormal, and the skeptical Scully, a medical doctor, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries which could ultimately be used to discredit his work. Throughout the series the two develop a close friendship. During the eighth and ninth seasons of the series, Duchovny's role was reduced from lead actor to an intermittent lead role.

The show's premise originated with Chris Carter, who served as an executive producer along with R. W. Goodwin, Frank Spotnitz, Howard Gordon, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Kim Manners, Glen Morgan, James Wong, and many others. Filming for seasons one to five took place primarily in Vancouver, British Columbia, and for the remaining seasons in Los Angeles. (Full article...)
Image 15

The NBC superhero serial drama series Heroes follows the lives of people around the globe who possess various superhuman powers as they struggle to cope with their everyday lives and prevent foreseen disasters from occurring. The series premiered on American and Canadian television on September 25, 2006. The first season, which finished 21st of 142 American primetime television programs in Nielsen ratings, was released on DVD and HD DVD on August 28, 2007. The second season ranked 21st of 220 in the ratings, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on August 26, 2008, with the Blu-ray release of the first season. The third season aired in two blocks generally without reruns; it premiered on September 22, 2008, on NBC in the United States and on Global in Canada, with a one-hour clip-show and two regular episodes. The fourth season aired from September 21, 2009, to February 8, 2010. Although cast members had stated and speculated that there would be a fifth season, NBC announced on May 14, 2010, that the show was officially cancelled, but that the network was looking at plans to tie up some loose ends in either a miniseries or TV movie.

Within the seasons of Heroes are "volumes", which focus on shorter story arcs. The first season comprises a single volume of 23 episodes called Genesis, which is also the title of the pilot episode. The second season was designed to contain three volumes called Generations, Exodus, and Villains, but Exodus was scrapped due to viewer criticism and the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Villains was carried over to the show's third season, leaving the second season with only 11 episodes, 13 fewer than were originally ordered by NBC. The third season included 25 episodes, 13 episodes comprising Villains and 12 episodes in a volume titled Fugitives. The fourth season consisted of a fifth volume of 18 episodes titled Redemption. The final scene of the last episode began a sixth volume entitled Brave New World, which became the title of the first episode of Heroes Reborn. (Full article...)

More featured lists

News

Wikinews television portal

Upcoming events

Upcoming television series

Featured content

Extended content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Television}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.